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Judging Day - Round One

World Architecture Festival Awards shortlist announced

Competition receives highest ever number of entries

A theatre made of straw in Estonia, a soccer school in Sowetto, a tree hotel in Sweden, a bamboo office in India and a moving gallery in New York are among the 284 projects that have been announced today in the shortlist of the world's biggest architecture competition - the World Architecture Festival Awards 2011.

Now in its fourth year, the competition attracted its highest number of entries to date with 704 entries from 59 different countries and, for the first time, architecture and design enthusiasts will get the opportunity to have their say on which project should be crowned as the World Building of the Year 2011. 

WAF Award entries span the globe from as far south as Tasmania to the Arctic Circle in Norway with new countries such as Libya, Haiti and Cambodia appearing alongside the USA, UK, Australia, China, Japan, Spain, and Scandinavia, which all have significant presence on the shortlist. 

Projects entered this year, against a backdrop of a challenging economic climate, highlight the continuing need for innovative buildings that use materials and construction techniques which are sympathetic to practical, aesthetic and economical factors.

Buildings designed by renowned architects such as Zaha Hadid and Foster + Partners feature among buildings by smaller/ lesser known practices. Each practice will compete as equals when presenting their designs live to international judging panels and Festival delegates at World Architecture Festival in Barcelona from 2nd to 4th November 2011.

A distinguished Super Jury, headed up in 2011 by Michael Sorkin, principal of Michael Sorkin Studio New York, will unite for the Festival finale and cast their vote to decide which project will be crowned World Building of the Year 2011.

What do our judges think?

There is a fantastic spread of entries from all over the world, we have people from Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, all of the continents are covered. The World is going to be there. It's going to be a blast!

Shane O'Toole

The gathering of people from all over the world coming and presenting what they have shown us today and explaining the things we couldn't answer just by looking at their boards is very exciting.

Michael Heenan

I'm looking forward to hearing the people present because I think it's one thing to see something on a board which looks reasonably ok, but when you hear the person and whether they really believe what they are doing and if there is a degree of passion, that's really great. If you are a good architect you should be passionate about what you do, you should have researched it, and know it, and really want to do that above all else!

Sir Peter Cook

The standard of smaller category entries has been really high this year; the quality and range has been excellent.  It's pleasing to see projects incorporating good ideas which will take the architectural sector forward; ideas driven by energy and sustainability.

Paul Finch

What are we looking for in a project? It's got to work and it's got to look cool.

Mike Staples

We're looking for projects and designs that will stimulate - something special. All the shortlisted projects have that.

Christine Murray

The awards are divided into three main sections: Completed Buildings, Structural Design, and Future Projects (for designs in progress). Each section includes up to 16 categories. Every project entered into the WAF Awards will be showcased in the Festival gallery for delegates, architects, clients and critics to view.

Guide to gallery controls:

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